The Dubrovniks are an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band formed in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 in 1987. The band's name was coined from the fact that founding members Roddy Radalj

Roddy Radalj

Roddy Radalj is a rock musician and singer-songwriter who grew up in Perth, Western Australia...

 and Boris Sujdovic were born in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...

, a town in Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

.
Both Radalj and fellow founder James Baker

James Baker (musician)

James Baker is a rock musician from Perth, Western Australia. He has drummed with, and was instrumental in the founding of several influential Australian bands including The Scientists, Le Hoodoo Gurus, Beasts of Bourbon, and The Dubrovniks.-Early days:Baker has named Ronnie Bond of The Troggs as...

 had been founding members of Hoodoo Gurus

Hoodoo Gurus

Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner and later joined by Richard Grossman , Mark Kingsmill , and Brad Shepherd...

 (as Le Hoodoo Gurus). All three had earlier associations in Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

n punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 scene.

Biography

The band were first established in August, 1986 when Radalj teamed up again with James Baker (by then ex-Beasts of Bourbon

Beasts of Bourbon

Beasts of Bourbon was an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1983, with a line-up that has changed as the band splintered and reformed several times - Beginnings :...

), together with Boris Sujdovic (ex-Rockets, The Scientists

The Scientists

The Scientists are an influential post-punk band from Perth, Australia, led by Kim Salmon, initially known as Exterminators and then Invaders. The band had two primary incarnations: the Perth-based punk band of the late 1970s and the Sydney/London-based swamp rock band of the 1980s...

, Beasts of Bourbon

Beasts of Bourbon

Beasts of Bourbon was an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1983, with a line-up that has changed as the band splintered and reformed several times - Beginnings :...

) and Peter Simpson (Spectre's Revenge) as the Adorable Ones. Within a year the Adorable Ones had renamed themselves the Dubrovniks in honour of the fact that Radalj and Sujdovic were both born in the historical Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n city of Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...

. The band having to change names as there already was a Brisbane band with that name.

Citadel issued the singles "Fireball of Love" b/w "If I Had a Gun" in April, 1988 and a cover of Alvin Stardust

Alvin Stardust

Alvin Stardust is an English pop singer and stage actor.-Career:...

's "My Coo Ca Choo" b/w "Girls Go Manic" in November, 1988. By the time the band recorded and issued the single "Speedway Girls" b/w "Freezin' Rain" in June, 1989 and their debut album, Dubrovnik Blues in August, 1989, Radalj had moved on to form a new band, the Punjabbers, comprising Radalj, Brett Ford (drums; ex-Kryptonics

Kryptonics

Hailing from Perth, Western Australia, The Kryptonics were a tough, melodic pop punk outfit that existed between 1985 and 1992. They were contemporaries of celebrated Perth bands, The Stems, The Triffids & The Bamboos and were a popular local band of that time...

, Lubricated Goat), Tony Robertson (bass; ex-The Hitmen

The Hitmen

Hitmen are an Australian Hard rock band. The group went through a large number of lineup changes in its short late 1970s and early 1980s run, then regrouped under a new name, Hitmen DTK, between 1989 and 1992. They reformed in 2007 and continue to play....

, New Christs

New Christs

The New Christs are an Australian rock and roll band, led by Rob Younger, with various lineups through the 80s, 90s, Noughties. Younger was the singer in the influential Australian band Radio Birdman....

, Naked Lunch) and Tony Thewlis (guitar; ex-Scientists) The Punjabbers only had one release, a single "Rock'n'Roll Loveletter" on Timberyard Records

Timberyard Records

Timberyard Records was a pioneering record label in the Australian independent music movement of the 1980s. Initially releasing prominent underground Sydney acts such as Box the Jesuit, The Dubrovniks, Girl Monstar, Johnny Teen and the Broken Hearts and the Zen Genies plus an early EP of You Am I,...

 in December, 1988. Radalj then formed The Surfin' Caesars and recorded several albums.

Chris Flynn (guitar, vocals; ex-Headstones) eventually replaced Radalj, and the band signed to Mushroom Records

Mushroom Records

Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

. The band's releases on Mushroom, both produced by Kevin "Caveman" Shirley, maintained the revved-up, trashy rock'n'roll tradition. Audio Sonic Love Affair released September, 1990 included the singles "She Got No Love" b/w "Got this Far" (June, 1990) and "Love is on the Loose" b/w "Something's not Right in the World" (October, 1990). Glenn Armstrong (guitar; ex-Horny Toads-Girlies) replaced Simpson in 1990, and the band issued Chrome in June, 1992. The album produced two singles, "Saigon Rose" (February, 1992) and "French Revolution" (June, 1992). In between albums, Baker and Sujdovic toured and recorded with Beasts of Bourbon

Beasts of Bourbon

Beasts of Bourbon was an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1983, with a line-up that has changed as the band splintered and reformed several times - Beginnings :...

. In early 1991, the two severed their commitments to the Beasts in order to concentrate on The Dubrovniks. Mushroom dropped the band in 1993. German label, Normal, issued Medicine Wheel in Europe, and Mushroom Distribution Services (MDS) distributed it in Australia.

The Dubrovniks broke up in 1995 with Baker returning to Perth, where he joined power pop band, Satellite 5, with John Rushin (vocals), Phil Bradley (guitar; ex-Jackals), Doug Thomas (guitar; ex-Dagoes, Spikes) and Howard Shawcross (bass; ex-Elks, Howard I Know, Jackals). Sujdovic went on to form a new band, Black Dirt, together with Flynn, Chris Collins and Paul Loughhead.

Members

Alphabetical list:

• Glenn Armstrong — guitar, backing vocals (1990–1994)
• James Baker
  James Baker (musician)
  James Baker is a rock musician from Perth, Western Australia. He has drummed with, and was instrumental in the founding of several influential Australian bands including The Scientists, Le Hoodoo Gurus, Beasts of Bourbon, and The Dubrovniks.-Early days:Baker has named Ronnie Bond of The Troggs as...
  
   — drums, percussion (1988–1994)
• Christopher Flynn — guitar, vocal (1989–1994)
• Roddy Radalj
  Roddy Radalj
  Roddy Radalj is a rock musician and singer-songwriter who grew up in Perth, Western Australia...
  
  — guitar, bass, vocals (1988–1989)
• Peter Simpson — guitar, piano, vocals (1988–1990)
• Boris Sujdovic — bass, guitar, vocals (1988–1994)

Tony Thewlis also played guitar in the late 80's.

Singles

• "Fireball of Love" (Sujdovic) / "If I Had a Gun" (Baker, Simpson, Sujdovic, Radalj) — (April 1988)
• "My Coo Ca Choo" (Peter Shelley) / "Girls Go Maniac" (Radalj, Sujdovic) — (November 1988)
• "Speedway Girls" (Sujdovic) / "Freezing Rain" (Simpson, Sujdovic, Radalj) — (June 1989)
• "Love is on the Loose Tonight" (1990)
• "French Revolution" (Flynn) — (1992)

Albums

• Dubrovnik Blues (1989)
• Audio Sonic Love Affair (1990)
• Chrome (1992)
• Medicine Wheel (1994)